6/22 - Day Six

Today was a free day with no full group activities, so we worked with our community partners, went to office hours with our instructors, explored the city, or started looking ahead at our assignments due at the end of the weekend. Since we were each off doing our own things for the most part, there is little common narrative for the day.

Clouds from the U-Bahn

Some got up for breakfast and got ready early, including those going to Empati. Empati is a project giving refugees a place to get involved with building furniture as well as gaining skills and job references in the process. I heard from the two students working there that the visit went well. It is a one-man operation for the most part, and he is excited to have people to bounce ideas off of. He is also very interested in the students’ research and had gone the extra mile to do some research himself to help them get started. From what I’ve heard, most of the people we are working with at the community partners are also excited about our work and willing to adjust their plans to help our research. We appreciate their help and gracious, welcoming attitude towards our coursework, and I believe I can speak on everyone’s behalf when I say that we want to invest our time in a way to prioritize the organization’s needs as well. Back to Empati, since the man in charge is still in the prototyping phase due to unexpected delays, the students have the opportunity to brainstorm ideas of how to design and use the furniture.

With the students at Empati introduced, we have officially introduced every student to their community partner! Now, we are ready to see where these connections go in the next three weeks and hopefully beyond.

Other morning activities were more leisurely. People had time to explore neighboring districts and enjoy parks, food, and drink. The possibilities to connect to locals are expanded when traveling alone because you can often partake in more conversations and observe more.

Many, including me, slept in:

Das Bett

One of the things we have all been enjoying in Berlin is the food:

A burrito at Tex-Mex (close to Humboldt)

Deliciousness at Amar (Indian food)

On the topic of food, one of the things that has surprised me most about Kreuzberg is the amount of international food in the area. Similar to Seattle, the restaurants are often run by people who immigrated from the cuisine’s native region, so they are authentic and represent a large diversity in the community. Though there is diversity, it is clear around our hostel that the restaurants are catering to a middle class and tourist clientele. Gentrification is being felt here in the restaurant industry, as old restaurants are being pushed out in favor of the new, popular restaurants that can afford the rising costs of rent. This makes me ask a similar question to Kristina’s from her Monday lecture: as the existing restaurants now represent the neighborhood to residents and tourists, which restaurants are being forgotten? What restaurants could not handle the changes to the community and have lost their voice? Without asking the residents to find out more, it is hard to tell.

Back to our day: In the city center, Julie and Kathryn were holding their first office hours here in Berlin, one sign that the group is getting settled into a rhythm. I met with them to discuss a few things from last quarter and this first week. While I was near Bahnhof Friedrichstraße (Friedrich Street Station) and eating Mexican food after office hours, the thunderstorm was beginning to pick up. The wind was making people walk fast down the busy streets near the train station.

I hopefully had my final instance of forgetting about the different tipping system in Germany (not leaving money on the table, but having to ask for your change back to specify your tip). For me, the language is a fundamental part of experiencing a culture, but the uniquely insightful part of visiting another culture in person is learning about their customs. The nuances of such traditions are hard to learn from a book or a website. I like to conjecture how the customs fit into the culture in the bigger picture. For instance, the fact that you ask for a specific amount of money back connects with the German respect for directness. Unlike the U.S. where the waiter would just give you the change without mentioning it verbally, Germany is a place where you must ask for what you want. From what I’ve experienced, most people are willing to help if you ask politely, a testament to the possibility of making friendships and connections across national boundaries.

By the time I was done tipping, the storm had temporarily subsided and I headed straight back to the hostel. Many were working and staying in for the evening, but some went out on the town and came back relatively early. This is a fairly common split for us. I think this embodies (though it may not be a direct result) a balance we need to strike between experiencing Berlin and sitting down to do our class assignments. This goes back to one of the first conversations I had about the program with Julie: the idea that the whole time we have in Berlin is part of our education. We have to find the right time to come back after a full day and reflect, so to speak.

To cap it off, we had an exciting thunderstorm. Goodbye for now, hot weather!

I hope you keep up to date on our blog as we continue this experience.

Your narrator,

Bryan